The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for measuring trace amounts of lead alkyls in hydrocarbons particularly gasoline. Where government regulations require that major distributors of gasoline market at least one unleaded grade of gasoline, this is allowed to contain no more than 0.05 grams of lead per gallon. This quantity of lead is equal to approximately 17 parts per million (ppm) by weight. With these regulations in effect, there is a need for a simple, rapid, inexpensive and reliable method for determining the quantity of lead in gasoline. Preferably, the method used should be relatively simple so that it may be used by people who are not skilled in chemistry or other technical arts. In addition, since many tests must be conducted, the equipment and the cost of conducting the tests must be relatively low. Further, the tests must be accurate and not require additional laboratory analysis and must be repeatable so that uniform results may be obtained on all samples.
At present, the only methods available for determining trace amounts of lead in gasoline are variations of the same method which involve the chemical oxidation of the lead followed by a colorimetric determination of the oxidation products. These methods being basically chemical methods require the availability of several reagents that results in a complicated method. All of these problems lead to considerable question of whether the results obtained by any one operator are comparable to those obtained by a different operator operating on a different sample with different reagents.